Cops: Bookkeeper stole from restaurant

EUSTIS -- A former bookkeeper at a popular downtown restaurant stole thousands of dollars from the establishment by using a business computer program to falsify checks, authorities said.

Stephanie G. Ziegenfuss, 39, is charged with grand theft and fraud, both felonies, accused of stealing from her employer, A Third Place. She was released from the Lake County Jail after posting $4,000 bond.

The Leesburg woman told Eustis police she started taking money in August while working at the East Magnolia Avenue restaurant and bar. She needed the cash to help pay for her daughter's "overwhelming" medical bills, according to reports. She estimated she stole about $7,555 by modifying the establishment's computer software so that checks were paid out to her; her husband, Larry; and her daughter, Samantha, 19, instead of a vendor, police said.

The restaurant's owner William Ferree, however, told investigators he lost more than $21,513, according to reports.

Ziegenfuss could not be reached for comment. No information was available on her daughter's medical condition. Neither her husband nor her daughter was charged.

Reached at his restaurant Tuesday, Ferree said he did not want to discuss the case.

Investigators said that between Aug. 8 and Dec. 14, Ziegenfuss falsified the restaurant's financial records so that it seemed the checks were being paid to a vendor. But the money actually went into several of her bank accounts, police said. Several bogus checks also were recorded as payroll deductions.

Samantha Ziegenfuss cleaned tables at the restaurant for about two weeks in April, and Larry Ziegenfuss occasionally performed there as a musical entertainer during the year.

Armed with a warrant, Eustis police investigators searched Stephanie Ziegenfuss' home computers Monday and found that she had documented all the illegal transactions, according to reports.

Ferree told investigators that he realized there was a problem last month when he noticed that a new accounting software program he recently purchased was not recording all of the money his business was taking in, according to reports.

Ferree also had purchased a second version of the accounting software so Ziegenfuss could use it on her personal computer and work from home.

At Ferree's request, an accounting firm conducted an audit, and it confirmed more than $300 worth of inconsistencies in the restaurant's business records. Ferree retrieved the checks from his bank and called police.

He also fired Ziegenfuss on Dec. 14. She told police she had worked at A Third Place for about a year.